Project: LEXA

Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys but I have been really busy with school. I have 2 2000 word essays due on Friday lol. Anyway I have been busy so here we go.

I went to an automotive shop with my mate because he needed to get some cable to wire up his sound system and I found these:

They are chrome plastic cable spacers. Cost me $20 for the pack but IMO it was well worth it.
Even thought they looked so good they still needed to be modded slightly. I took apart all of the spacers.
Close up pic of a disassembled spacer:

As you can see the Allen bolt passes through to the nut which sits in a recess. These nuts aren't glued in so that's what I did next.
All glued:

Now all the spacers are good to go for when I need them during the installation phase.

Next up we have the mobo tray:

Yes very plain I know. I am going to cut some holes into the tray to make cable management easier and to allow greater access to the CPU cooler (underside) and a CCFL inverter.
All my cuts marked on the tray:

Cuts all done and paint touched up a bit:

"U" channel on the cuts:

I guess I better explain what each hole is for so here we go.
Hole 1:

This hole sits directly behind the CPU area of the mobo. By cutting this hole I have allowed myself the freedom of being able to remove my CPU water block without removing the motherboard from the case. Not really needed but always good to have the flexibility.

Hole 2:

This is the entrance hole for the motherboard 24pin power cord. This allows me to route the cable under the mobo tray instead of straight under the mobo.

Hole 3:

The exit hole for the 24 pin mobo power cable. This hole sits directly on the edge of the motherboard allowing only the head of the cable to be seen.

Hole 4:

This hole gives me access to the CCFL inverter I mounted on the motherboard side of the case. It basically allows me to replace the inverter if it breaks without pulling half the case apart.

While I was doing all of this I thought I would treat you all to a progress shot:

Nearly all of the structural work is now complete. Only the wiring and W/C loop to go now.

While I had the case like this I figured now was a good a time than any to make my pump mounting plate.
Here is the general area the pump will be mounted in:

And here is the pump, a Danger Den MAG II LE:

This was my design for the mounting plate, pretty simple ey:

I cut out the design and stuck it to a piece of scrap alu I had laying around (yes that is the cut out from mounting the 240mm radiator lol):

Plate cut out using the Dremel:

Edges fixed up once again using the Dremel:

Holes drilled:

Plate bent into shape with the vice:

A few shots of the pump sitting on the plate, perfect:

A shot of where the plate will be installed:

The pump will be held in place with a Velcro strip and this mounting plate I made. I will be using these spare bits from my Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II to mount the mounting plate:

A pic of the mounting plate:

Yes I know it's mesh but it is just for added support.
And here it is all together:

It looks a bit loose but I didn't really tighten it up much and the Velcro isn't stuck on yet.

Now that the construction phase is complete I can start with the painting.
Plate and bracket primed:

And painted:

I am sad to say that is as far as I got today. The paint is still drying so there are no final construction pics but I should have them for you all tomorrow. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Man, you've been BUSY. :) Lookin' pretty slick, I still love those feet! Keep it up.
________
Yamaha shs-10 history

Thanks blue. The only thing I actually did today was design and make the pump mount. I did the rest throughout the last week but held out so I could get a BIG update to you all lol.

omg.... finally thats soo good.... another 2 2000 words!!! ffs kill them teachers lol wanna see those pics soooo bad man i love this case..

Thanks mate. Had a 4 days weekend so I thought I should do something. Yeah those essays are a pain but once those 2000 word ones are out of the way I only have a few more minor assignments to go before I am done. Then I have until the end of the month to apply to Uni before I gotta pay the late fee. Got lots on my plate.

yea i understand but still want ya to mod lol

Wow...just WOW, that looks amazing love where you put the pump, wish my lexa turned out this good

Wow, that is awesome looking. Definitely worth waiting to see the results.

Looking great dude, keep up the good work. +rep

That looks astonishing. I love this mod. It just has so much time and effort into it. Blood, sweat, and tears at their finest.

@ 985323 - mate your LEXA turned out beautifully.
@ mittelmeier - Thanks mate.
@ dapallox1 - Thanks mate and thanks for the rep.
@ Karbon Killa - Thank you very much. Yes a lot of time spent on this mod now (about 14 months by my count lol, check the first post).

Thank you all for your comments, it means a lot and thank you all for your +rep.

As promised I have the finished and mounted pump bracket.

Here is the bracket painted and with the mounting bolts installed:

Test fit with the pump:

Pump installed with the Velcro:

Pump bolted down:

Another view:

Now to mount the bracket to the case.
I drilled the two holes and test mounted it, fits perfectly:

I then cut the bolts to size and attached foam strip to the back of the bracket to help with the vibrations:

Bracket installed:

And finally the pump installed on the bracket:

YAY all done lol. The pump sits a bit wobbly which is annoying me. I am cut the copper spacers on the pump mounting bolts down a bit to add some more tension to the pump base. At the moment it is slightly lifting the pump up.

Well that's all I have for you now guys. With 2 2000 word essays due Friday I guess I won't have an update before the end of the week but I may do something this weekend, depends if I am droving in assignments. Until then...

Happy Modding.

wow your really noise concious... you need to come to one of my parties on day

f*** the neighbours invite em over!!! PARTY lol

Bracket looks great. Gotta love it.

LOL. The last thing you want is a lose pump vibrating your whole case. It sounds like when you leave your mobile on vibrate on a wooden surface lol.

Thanks for the comments guys.

lol true but the whole case is sound proof lol

still love it tho...
+rep just cuz

Thanks mate.

Well guys don't I have a nice treat for you all today. This one comes in the form of A COMPLETED CASE!!!

Yesterday while I was waiting for a few mates to come over so we could continue with one of our media studies assignments I got an itch. Not an itch that could easily be scratched...I got the modding itch. I decided it was time to put my poor old LEXA back together.

First there were a few minor alterations that needed to be taken care of.

I had to slightly modify one of the front case feet to allow rivets to be inserted underneath it. This meant simply drilling a hole and countersinking it:

Next I had to cut a small bit of the radiator grommets to allow the drive bays to sit flat:

And finally I had to grind a bit off the HDD bay cover so it would sit flush with the base of the case:

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The case in all it's glory!!!
Windowed side panel on:

Windowed side panel off:

A shot of the drive bays:

A shot of the rear:

And the underside of the case:

Well I hope you all enjoyed that, I tell you what, I sure did lol. Even thought he case is constructed there are still a few more things that need to be done before my hardware can call it home. This coming week is the last of school before a 2 week break before exams. I have a lot of work to do in the first week on the holidays but should hopefully get LEXA finally completed before I have to go in for my practice exams. Until then...

Happy Modding.

nice looks hell good

Thanks mate.

That looks amazing. +rep

Thanks mittelmeier, I'm glad you like it.

Good Heavens! Could it be that this case might just be nearing completion? If that's the case, I should head down to EB Games, Duke Nukem Forever is probably out.

Excellent work man, + rep on sticking with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pointy_Stick

Good Heavens! Could it be that this case might just be nearing completion? If that's the case, I should head down to EB Games, Duke Nukem Forever is probably out.

---

LOL. Yes she is almost complete...finally haha. Sorry to break it to you though, Duke Nukem Forever will never be released lol.

Thanks for the comment Pointy and thanks for the +rep.

Wow that looks great, the black and green look great together

Thanks 985323. I am so close now, just a few final detail bits to complete, some cable shortening/sleeving and a bit of fiddling with the pump mount and she will be ready for the hardware.

:banana: Woo hoo!! It looks like a computer!!
________
TOP PENNY STOCKS

Yes finally it does look like a computer lol. Hardware still sitting in a pile next to me though lol. I may get one of those new Antec skeleton test bench things and mod that a bit, I like the whole idea of maximum airflow by having the hardware outside the chassis, I have grown accustomed to it.

Thanks for your comment blueonblack.

i know the pile... i got one too... lol

My great friend your project is very good. :D
My compliments

Thank you very much ulysses, as is your project.

Ok guys. I started shortening the cables for the CCFL harness and I have run into a problem. The new switches I have for the CCFLs have a blue LED in them that is meant to light up when you flick the switch.

The problem I am having is that I can't get it to light up and power the CCFL at the same time. I have both 1 yellow and 1 red spade connector coming from the molex plug. The light will only turn on when the red spade connector is attached to the LED terminal but the switch wont work when I do so.

I soldered a second spade connector to the red line so I can have one attached to the switch and another to LED terminal. For some reason the switch takes priority over the LED even when both of the spade connectors are attached. If I remove the spade to the switch than the LED works and the CCFL doesn't. As soon as I plug the spade back on the LED it stops working and the CCFL does lol.

I am really stuck with this due to me not being that great at circuits and such. Can someone please help me?

Please ask if you need any pics.

I wish I could help you but I have the same issue with a lighted switch on my comp. I just gave up and left it without a light for the time being. I'm interested in how to fix this so I can make mine light when it's on.

Well I guess I owe you guys an update on what I have been up to lately.

I have spent the majority of my time routing cables and trying to get my LED rocker switches to work. Thanks very much to Luke and XcOM for their help so far.
I Got around to mounting my 20cm UV CCFL to the support bar of the case:

I also wired up all the CCFLs to their respective inverters:

The only thing left to do is finish soldering the power connectors for the rocker switches and I don't have to worry about the CCFLs.

I have also tweaked the bump bracket by cutting the brass nuts in half. The pump is 100% secure and will not move (even if I force it.

I have also been tweaking a bit with the water loop:

I have been able to connect the 120mm rad to the res and fillport, the res to the 240mm rad and then the 240mm rad to the pump. I know that this loop probably isn't the best for the flow but it is the only way I can keep it all neat. If the flow is really bad I will upgrade the pump to a Danger Den D5.

And last but not least I have started designing a new face plate for the front of the reservoir.
Tell me what you think:

The new face plate will be made from a piece of AC Ryan MeshX I have laying around. The "LEXA" and the line underneath it will cut from the mesh. The mesh will be painted black and I will use clear double sided tape to attach it to the front of the res.

That's it for now. When the weather clears up I will paint my fans then I can finish routing the cables. Until then...

Happy Modding.

that looks awsome! cant wait to have completed night shots:P

and damn that pump is tiny!

+rep:)

Thanks a lot pOPe, neither can I.

I have a small update today. I made the face plate for the reservoir.
The cut out and filed face plate:

I then painted it a satin black, not the flat I usually use. This helps it blend in with the glossy plastic at the front of the case:

And installed to the front of the reservoir:

The letters are back lit by the Vista screen saver but you get the idea.

I may get around to painting some of my fans this arvo but I doubt it. Until then...

Happy Modding.

WOW that mesh is nice! very well cut m8! i know how hard it is to cut that stuff and especially as thin as you did it there:P

your gonna put green fluid in right?

that looks great jason!

Id agree with p0Pe green fluid would look great, very nice job on that mesh, looking good